Touro Communication Club Notes #46

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“Recount” (2008) with Kevin Spacey is our next political film. This Emmy-winning dramatization feels like thriller as it portrays the highly controversial 2000 Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. We’ll have a post-film discussion.

We have two melodramas playing simultaneously in America – the financial disaster and the Presidential election. Indications are that both will get much worse before they get better. In less than 3 weeks we will know who will be elected to pick up the financial mess. Americans will know on November 5^th who they chose to pick up after the elephants of Wall Street.

As these melodramas unfold, we are learning new tidbits about the financial shenanigans and even more ways to slime a Presidential candidate. Whoever said money and politics weren’t creative?

An interesting phenomenon has surfaced in the political campaign, known as the “Bradley Effect.” Named for Tom Bradley, mayor of Los Angeles, who lost his bid to become the first black governor of Califor nia against George Deukmejian, a white Republican, the polls had predicted that Bradley would win the election. The question is quickly raised whether the voters had lied to the pollsters.

As the election melodrama spins its own thrills, the polls show that Barack Obama is 5-10 points ahead of McCain in most of the polls. Whether the Bradley effect will repeat itself as voters – particularly white voters – say one thing to pollsters and vote another way in the voting booth. We’ll be discussing the minutiae of the 2008 election for months to come.

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Because of the Jewish holidays, here's an extended list of our upcoming Club events:

Thursday, October 16, 2008 – 2 pm Room 226 – The film “Recount” (2008) with Kevin Spacey. This Emmy-winning dramatization of the highly controversial 2000 Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush which was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 2 pm - Room 610 – Debate – Mock Presidential Debate. Members of the club will undertake the challenging task of impersonating the positions of Senators McCain and Obama. The debaters are studying the issues that face the nation and, by a coin toss, be assigned either the Democratic or Republican positions. The format will follow generally that of the first Presidential debate. A list of foreign and domestic issues will be provided in advance to the debaters (listed below). A total of six questions will be selected the list of issues below. Each team will make an opening statement. Then each debater will have 90 seconds to respond to a question, followed by a cross-examination by the opposite side. Final statements from each team will close the debate. Judges from the audience will decide on which team won the debate.

Foreign issues Iraq war Afganistan war Credibility of the U.S. abroad The U.S. role in the Middle East The Bush “Doctrine” Covert foreign operations

Domestic issues Financial crisis Housing crisis Homeland Security Energy Global warming Education Social issues (abortion, same sex marriage, creationism, stem cell research)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 – 2 pm – The film “The Great Debaters” (2008) with Denzel Washington. A dramatization of the true story of the unlikely 1935 journey of a debate team from the historically black college, Wiley College, which challenges powerhouse Harvard College.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 – ELECTION DAY – PLEASE VOTE! Lorinda Moore and Olushile Akintade have been conducting a voter registration drive at Midtown and Taino. Over 100 new voters have been registered from Touro. More to come!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 1 pm – Room 610: Discussion of the Elec tion

What happened on October 7, 2008 – The film “The Candidate” (1973) with Robert Redford.

George Backinoff led a lively post film discussion with Musa Bryant, Lorinda Moore, Steven Gradman and Hal Wicke present. Several people poked their heads into the room during the film but did not stay.

“Pretty realistic” was the general reaction to the film, even though it was made 25 years ago. The pace and movie-making held up well, despite the audience realized that the 2008 media strategies and technology are much more sophisticated.

General observations included:

• The behind-the-scenes behaviors were new in film in 1973. If it were done in 2008, about 30 minutes could have been cut from the film’s length of 1:50.
• The front man (the candidate) has little to say as he is manipulated by his handlers.
• Comparison Redford is to Obama as Don Porter is to McCain. Age and beauty.
• George W. Bush had speech writers tell him what to say.
• Analogy to Rosa Parks – she was picked for her “starring role” in the civil rights movement because she fit the necessary criteria for the required heroine needed to refuse to get off the bus.
• Robert Redford’s character was picked because he fit certain criteria, made apparent by Peter Boyle’s character of the campaign manager.
• Today’s message would be packaged in a slicker manner.
• Mario Cuomo was elected 3 times as the New York’s Governor and did nothing while in office. [Cuomo was known as the “Hamlet on the Hudson.”
• An elected official has to DO something once in office to justify his campaign rhetoric.
• Dwight Eisenhower was elected two 2 terms because he was a WWII hero, but did nothing while in office. And these were considered America’s “Golden Years.”
• What do we learn? Maybe having a do-nothing president is not such a bad thing.
• But FDR had to do something in 1932 after the 1929 Market crash under Herbert Hoover.
• Currently, America is $63 trillion in debt.
• The2008 negative campaigning is turning off people to politics.
• Sophistication becomes jaded behavior: “I don’t believe the campaign ads anymore.”

I was struck at how lively the discussion was despite having so few people present. The next film, “Recount” is as close to a documentary as fiction will allow.

These sessions are always open for everyone to attend. Bring a friend and join in the excitement. See you next time.

Hal Wicke